VW Plan With The Tiguan

4:16pm Friday 22nd February 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

NOT satisfied with being the fourth-largest car seller in Great Britain, Volkswagen plans to move up a notch or two.

The new Tiguan shows a sign of intent, with a completely new body atop Golf/Passat running gear being launched into a new segment for the brand, the compact Sports Utility Vehicle.

Taking cues from its big brother the Touareg, the chunky-looking, nicely-proportioned Tiguan has VW's 4MOTION four-wheel-drive system as standard and allows competent on-road manners with the possibility of moderate off-road work.

More likely to be pulling ponies than climbing canyons, it's nonetheless not afraid of a bit of the rough stuff.

There are four trim levels available - S, SE, Sport and Escape. The interesting "Escape" version is geared towards "soft-roading" with a shorter, steeper front overhang (providing a much steeper angle of approach), radiator grille protection, a sump guard, hill descent assistance and a compass.

Two engines are currently available, a torquey, 140ps, 2.0-litre diesel and a peppy 1.4 TSI petrol unit with 150ps.

The latter is lively at higher, though less economical, revs.

Both provide ample power for different purposes but there will be further engine choices later in the year.

Versatility is key. With the sliding rear three-seat bench folded down there's 1,510 litres of capacity and the car can tow a class-leading 2,500kg.

All models are well-specified, with alloy wheels, air-con, brake assist, ESP, MP3 CD system and a plethora of airbags.

In addition there are a number of innovative options, including a new touchscreen satnav and audio system and Park Assist, first pioneered on the Touran MPV, which takes over steering inputs for semi-automatic parking. More on this later.

VW anticipates that this year an overwhelming 86 per cent of a projected 10,000 Tiguan sales will be diesel models. In addition, there will probably be a two-wheel-drive version later this year.

Driving the car is a relaxed affair, although finding a comfortable driving position took a little fiddling with the seat and the wheel. But once found there was no doubt long-distance work wouldn't cause any distress.

The basic steering wheel was a plastic disappointment and the leather, multifunction wheel upgrade, at £210, would be a comforting and worthwhile investment.

Instruments were well positioned and easy to read and the dash-mounted gearbox was straightforward if a little notchy at first.

Much thought has gone into the interior, with no less than four pairs of front air vents plus more in the back. The comfortable rear seats are set high, with excellent legroom, giving good visibility out of the windows, particularly for children. This is important; too many modern cars have stylised rising waistlines giving narrow rear windows out of which the kids can't see well, which makes travelling an unpleasant experience. Well done, VW.

The ride was a little on the firm side for some and the steering was nicely weighted, though I'd have preferred more feedback through it.

Performance was good enough with both cars, the torquey diesel pulling well through the gears and the TSI liking more revs to give of its best. But at just 1.4 litres the TSI is a clever engine. It's supercharged at low revs and a turbocharger takes over as the revs increase. This gives smooth power delivery, good economy and an engine which doesn't need to work too hard.

I thought the turning circle was a bit on the broad side but this would be helped in town by the optional Park Assist mentioned earlier.